On Sandalwood... And Ganja

There is news today that some "sandalwood smugglers" have been apprehended by the Chennai police. They cut down sandalwood trees in the sprawling 300 acre campus of the Theosophical Society. The report notes that there are other institutions nearby, including the Madras Christian College, that have huge campuses where sandalwood grows.

My point is simply this: If sandalwood grows so easily in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and all along the Western Ghats, why should this resource not be treated as private property of whoever owns the land on which it is growing?

The problem today is that sandalwood is "collective property" and our The State owns all the sandalwood. If this tree was farmed, every poor person would plant a sapling in his compound, tend to it with loving care, and sell it at maturity to help in his old age. If this logic is applied to all trees - teak, sal, ebony, mahogany, rosewood, pine etc. - then it would be win-win all around. Timber is a renewable resource that should be cheap. With private property governing tree farming, timber would be abundant. It is scarce today, hence unaffordable, because of State ownership. And, of course, there are all these needless problems for the police - who could focus their energies on combating real crime.

I was the only person in India to write this when Veerappan was murdered without trial by the Karnataka Police. This article was translated into Kannada and immediately republished in a leading Kannada daily - that too, as front page anchor. I am glad to see that it has also appeared in Tamil.

Of course, I MUST add that if people can grow what they like on their properties and sell their crops freely, then ganja farming should also be totally legit.

"The Weed" Must Become "The Crop"!